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During his career as a computer expert and software engineer, Dr. Gilliean Lee of Lander University has spent a lot of time helping to develop the capabilities of the Internet as a dynamic tool for education and business. He is also engaged in a joint research project linking a computer application and music analysis.

Lee is an assistant professor of computing in Lander's College of Mathematics and Science, and his achievements as a teacher and researcher have earned him the university's 2007 Young Faculty Scholar Award.

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Lee received his bachelor's and master's degree in computer science at Sogang University, South Korea. He worked as a software research engineer for two Korean companies for more than six years, and his first visit to the United States was a business trip to California in 2000.

He returned to the U.S. three years later and enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he received master's and doctoral degrees in computer and information science and engineering

Lee joined the Lander faculty in 2005 and teaches courses on the fundamentals of information systems, information systems and practices, programming principles and introduction to e-commerce.

His research on learning using the Internet is focused on personalizing the experience based on a student's background and performance. He said Web-based learning gives students flexibility to adapt their pace of learning but it lacks personal interaction between students and faculty. He is working to create what he calls an e-learning system that will improve that contact.

Lee is also collaborating with Lander assistant professor of music Dr. Robert Kelley on a research project called music informatics. Kelley, who teaches music theory and piano study, said he and Lee are writing a computer program that will assist in the analysis of music.

"Our program will assist scholars who want to apply one of a number of techniques of analysis to a particular piece of music," said Kelley. He explained that the software will read files in the standard music interchange format then display the structure of the music in various ways that are useful for scholars who study the music.

Kelley said Lee is the perfect collaborator to make the project a success because he has music experience as a guitarist and is using software tools that he used in previous research projects. The project is also an extension of Kelley's dissertation on music theory and Lee's experience in advanced computer studies.

Moving from Seoul to Gainesville and then to Greenwood, Lee said he was attracted by Lander's small school environment, which allows students to receive personal attention from their teachers. He said the interaction makes for a better educational experience, and added, " I believe I am building lifelong relationships with my students."

Lee and his wife, Rang Oh, have one daughter, Narae, a third-grader at Cambridge Academy. The Lees are fond of Greenwood because, he said, "The people are friendly, there is less traffic and there is easy access to mountains, beaches and bigger cities."